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When Bonnie Cullison took over as president of the Montgomery County teachers union, the outgoing president tried to prepare his successor for the battle that was sure to ensue in the wealthy, politically charged district.

"When she came into office, I gave her a set of boxing gloves because I thought she needed them," said Mark Simon, the teachers union president from 1997 to 2003. "After six years in office, she doesn't need them anymore. She has the collaborative instinct and the toughness to do the job."

Cullison, who had become a fixture in the county's education and government circles, was term-limited and stepped down Tuesday as teachers union president. Prior to that, the Silver Spring resident served as the union's vice president for six years under Simon. From 1985 to 1991, Cullison was president of the union's board of directors.

For Cullison, the departure from the teachers union is bittersweet. Under the union's bylaws, no president can serve more than two three-year terms. The reality that she would no longer be president was tough to grasp at first, but now it's time to do something different, she said.

"I am feeling a great deal of sadness," Cullison, 55, recently said of her exit. "But I'm ready to leave. I do believe that there are points at which it's time for new ideas, fresh ideas, fresh people to move it on, and I think that's exactly what we got here."

For the past six months, Cullison has been running for an at-large seat on the National Education Association's Executive Committee, which serves as a cabinet to the group's president. It is responsible for setting the NEA's general policy.

During her tenure with the teachers union, Cullison was not immune to scrutiny.

In early January, for example, the state Board of Elections sought an opinion from the Attorney General's Office after it learned that Cullison had asked state lawmakers for contributions to her campaign.

More than a week later, the office ruled that Cullison needed to return the money she received from lawmakers toward her campaign.

On Tuesday, Cullison said she had returned all the money she had received from lawmakers, a total of about $3,000. She said she has raised roughly $13,000 toward her NEA campaign.

The NEA job is not full-time, and Cullison, who worked for nearly 22 years in county schools, said she would seek a teaching position in the school system for next year.

Baptism by fire

Just two months after Cullison took the president's job, the school board announced it would implement a controversial plan to revamp the school system's grading and reporting policy. Under the policy, students aren't simply given an "A" or "B" grade on an assignment, but are assessed on how well they meet academic standards.

At the time, Cullison had "huge reservations" about the policy and spoke out to the board against its implementation. To drive the point home, Cullison said she asked several county teachers to write letters on the topic, which halted the school system's implementation of the new policy.

The attention that the union received catapulted Cullison as a force to be reckoned with in Montgomery County.

Politics as usual

The teachers union is widely regarded as a political powerhouse in the county. Its endorsements are printed on an "apple ballot" and distributed to voters entering polling places. Historically, politicians who get their names on the ballot are considered to have a major advantage in elections.

At times, though, the county's three school unions have been criticized by some parents and activists for being too close to the school system. Superintendent Jerry D. Weast includes school union presidents and the leader of the County Council of PTAs when preparing his operating budget each year.

"I believe that we are all responsible for the success of students," Cullison said. "If we are all working towards that goal, and working to the benefit of people who are delivering that goal, then we should be working together. My job is to make sure the decisions they make are in the best interests of my members, who get the work done."

Cullison is a natural problem solver who didn't spend her time placing blame, Weast said recently.

As for the collaboration between the union and the school system, "what we needed to do was blur the lines of governance," Weast said. "It shouldn't be all about power, it should be about accomplished outcomes.

"I don't think we should be arguing about how close we are; it should be about how we accomplish our mission."